This is the full text of the chain email received by PolitiFact about the Barbary pirates and Islam…as well as Politifact’s ruling on the accuracy of the email.

“Chain email about the Barbary pirates and Islam”

Quote: “Most Americans are unaware of the fact that over two hundred years ago, the United States had declared war on Islam, and Thomas Jefferson led the charge! (Politifact declares the statement about declaring war incorrect as is shown below in “Our Ruling)

At the height of the eighteenth century, Muslim pirates were the terror of the Mediterranean and a large area of the North Atlantic. They attacked every ship in sight, and held the crews for exorbitant ransoms. Those taken hostage were subjected to barbaric treatment and wrote heart breaking letters home, begging their government and family members to pay whatever their Mohammedan captors demanded.

These extortionists of the high seas represented the Islamic nations of Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers â collectively referred to as the Barbary Coast and presented a dangerous and unprovoked threat to the new American Republic.

Before the Revolutionary War, U.S. merchant ships had been under the protection of Great Britain. When the U.S. declared its independence and entered into war, the ships of the United States were protected by France. However, once the war was won, America had to protect its own fleets. Thus, the birth of the U.S. Navy.

Beginning in 1784, seventeen years before he would become president, Thomas Jefferson became Americaâs Minister to France. That same year, the U.S. Congress sought to appease its Muslim adversaries by following in the footsteps of European nations who paid bribes to the Barbary States, rather than engaging them in war.

In July of 1785, Algerian pirates captured American ships, and the Day of Algiers demanded an unheard-of ransom of $60,000. It was a plain and simple case of extortion, and Thomas Jefferson was vehemently opposed to any further payments. Instead, he proposed to Congress the formation of a coalition of allied nations who together could force the Islamic states into peace. A disinterested Congress decided to pay the ransom.

In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams met with Tripoliâs ambassador to Great Britain to ask by what right his nation attacked American ships and enslaved American citizens, and why Muslims held so much hostility towards America, a nation with which they had no previous contacts.

The two future presidents reported that Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja had answered that Islam “was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Quran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise.”

Despite this stunning admission of premeditated violence on non-Muslim nations, as well as the objections of many notable American leaders, including George Washington, who warned that caving in was both wrong and would only further embolden the enemy, for the following fifteen years, the American government paid the Muslims millions of dollars for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages.

The payments in ransom and tribute amounted to over twenty percent of the United States government annual revenues in 1800. Jefferson was disgusted. Shortly after his being sworn in as the third President of the United States in 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli sent him a note demanding the immediate payment of $225,000 plus $25,000 a year for every year forthcoming. That changed everything.

Jefferson let the Pasha know, in no uncertain terms, what he could do with his demand. The Pasha responded by cutting down the flagpole at the American consulate and declared war on the United States. Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers immediately followed suit.

Jefferson, until now, had been against America raising a naval force for anything beyond coastal defense, but having watched his nation be cowed by Islamic thuggery for long enough, decided that it was finally time to meet force with force.

He dispatched a squadron of frigates to the Mediterranean and taught the Muslim of the Barbary Coast a lesson he hoped they would never forget.

Congress authorized Jefferson to empower U.S. ships to seize all vessels and goods of the Pasha of Tripoli and to âcause to be done all other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war would justifyâ.

When Algiers and Tunis, who were both accustomed to American cowardice and acquiescence, saw the newly independent United States had both the will and might to strike back, they quickly abandoned their allegiance to
Tripoli.

The war with Tripoli lasted for four more years, and raged up again in 1815. The bravery of the U.S. Marine Corps in these wars led to the line âto the shores of Tripoliâ in the Marine Hymn, They would forever be known as âleathernecksâ for the leather collars of their uniforms, designed to prevent their heads from being cut off by the Muslim scimitars when boarding enemy ships.

Islam, and what its Barbary followers justified, doing in the name of their prophet and their god, disturbed Jefferson quite deeply. America had a tradition of religious tolerance. In fact, Jefferson himself, had co-authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, but fundamentalist Islam was like no other religion the world had ever seen.

A religion based on supremacism, whose holy book not only condoned but mandated violence against unbelievers was unacceptable to him. His greatest fear was that someday this brand of Islam would return and pose an even greater threat to the United States.

This should bother every American and Canadian. That the Islamic âreligionâ has brought about women-only classes and swimming times at taxpayer-funded universities and public pools; that Christians, Jews, and Hindus have been banned from serving on juries where Muslim defendants are being judged, Piggy banks and Porky Pig tissue dispensers have been banned from workplaces because they offend Islamist sensibilities.

Ice cream has been discontinued at certain Burger King locations because the picture on the wrapper looked similar to the Arabic script for Allah, public schools are pulling pork from their menus, on and on in the newspapersâ¦. Itâs death by a thousand cuts, or inch-by-inch as some refer to it, and most Americans and Canadians have no idea that this battle is being waged every day across America and Canada. By not fighting back, by allowing groups to obfuscate what is really happening, and not insisting that the Islamists adapt to our own culture, the United States and Canada are cutting their own throat with the politically correctness knife, and helping to further the Islamic / Muslim agenda. Sadly, it appears that todayâs North America would rather be politically correct than victorious.

Also remember Muslims are ordered to “lie, cheat, steal and murder or do anything that advances the takeover of the world by the Muslims.” Let that sink in as every day we see more and more Muslims showing up and taking high level positions in our state and federal government. What happened to common sense?

The Politifact.com ruling on this email is as follows however the content of the email brings out many facts that most Americans do not know and would like to read…here is the Politifact ruling…

“Our ruling” according to Politifact…

The chain email said that “over 200 years ago, the United States had declared war on Islam, and Thomas Jefferson led the charge!”

The Barbary powers were Muslim, and religion sometimes crops up in the historical record. But historians agree that the overriding motivation of American military action against the Barbary pirates was to secure a vital national interest, namely protecting the U.S. merchant fleet and its ability to conduct international trade. They see no evidence that Jefferson or his contemporaries were undertaking a religious holy war. So we rate the claim False.”

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From Wikipedia.org

See more previously….American diplomatic action with Algeria, the other major Barbary Coast State, was much less productive than with Morocco. Algeria began piracy against the U.S. on 25 July 1785 with the capture of the schoonerMaria, and Dauphin a week later.[9] All four Barbary Coast states demanded $660,000 each. However, the envoys were given only an allocated budget of $40,000 to achieve peace.[10] Diplomatic talks to reach a reasonable sum for tribute or for the ransom of the captured sailors struggled to make any headway. The crews of Maria and Dauphin remained in captivity for over a decade, and soon were joined by crews of other ships captured by the Barbary States.[11]

In 1795, Algeria came to an agreement that resulted in the release of 115 American sailors they held, at a cost of over $1 million. This amount totaled about one-sixth of the entire U.S. budget,[12] and was demanded as tribute by the Barbary States to prevent further piracy. The continuing demand for tribute ultimately led to the formation of the United States Department of the Navy, founded in 1798[13] to prevent further attacks upon American shipping and to end the demands for extremely large tributes from the Barbary States.

Various letters and testimonies by captured sailors describe their captivity as a form of slavery, even though Barbary Coast imprisonment was different from that practiced by the U.S. and European powers of the time.[14] Barbary Coast prisoners were able to obtain wealth and property, along with achieving status beyond that of a slave. One such example was James Leander Cathcart, who rose to the highest position a Christian slave could achieve in Algeria, becoming an adviser to the bey (governor).[15] Even so, most captives were pressed into hard labor in the service of the Barbary pirates, and struggled under extremely poor conditions that exposed them to vermin and disease. As word of their treatment reached the U.S., through freed captives’ narratives and letters, Americans pushed for direct government action to stop the piracy against U.S. ships.

1816 illustration of Christian slaves

In March 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams went to London to negotiate with Tripoli’s envoy, ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman (or Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja). When they enquired “concerning the ground of the pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury”, the ambassador replied:

“It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise. He said, also, that the man who was the first to board a vessel had one slave over and above his share, and that when they sprang to the deck of an enemy’s ship, every sailor held a dagger in each hand and a third in his mouth; which usually struck such terror into the foe that they cried out for quarter at once.”[22]

Jefferson reported the conversation to Secretary of Foreign Affairs John Jay, who submitted the ambassador’s comments and offer to Congress. Jefferson argued that paying tribute would encourage more attacks. Although John Adams agreed with Jefferson, he believed that circumstances forced the U.S. to pay tribute until an adequate navy could be built. The U.S. had just fought an exhausting war, which put the nation deep in debt. Federalistand Anti-Federalist forces argued over the needs of the country and the burden of taxation. Jefferson’s own Democratic-Republicans and anti-navalists believed that the future of the country lay in westward expansion, with Atlantic trade threatening to siphon money and energy away from the new nation, to be spent on wars in the Old World.[23] The U.S. paid Algiers the ransom, and continued to pay up to $1 million per year over the next 15 years for the safe passage of American ships and the return of American hostages.[citation needed] A $1 million payment in ransom and tribute to the privateering states amounted to approximately 10% of the U.S. government’s annual revenues in 1800.[24]

Jefferson continued to argue for cessation of the tribute, with rising support from George Washington and others. With the recommissioning of the American Navy in 1794 and the resulting increased firepower on the seas, it became increasingly possible for America to refuse paying tribute, although by now the long-standing habit was hard to overturn.

This is continued at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War

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And what choices do American Voters and the American Congress and Senate face today as we are proceeding into an election? Do you talk about this with your fellow citizens, friends and family members?

Since 1784 and even earlier the relations between radical terrorist Islamic Muslims and Americans have proceeded to the following as described below…

Today’s description of these radical, extremely horrendously cruel Muslims is “Islamic Terrorists” which neither President Barack Obama nor Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will speak the words to identify them as “Islamic Terrorists”. And Bernie Sanders will leave the whole subject to those in the far east to solve. Where does this leave you as a voter? Do you just ignore it and the welfare of yourself and your country…just so that you can vote for the Democratic Liberal Progressive Party…regardless of the consequences? As a citizen, if you do not want to protect this country that so many have given their blood and lives for I am very concerned about your sanity and love and loyalty for this country!

How does an American voter cast a vote for someone who will not take action to protect this country?

How does a candidate qualify as a Presidential candidate if they will not tell the truth when taking the Oath of Office of the United States?

We are so grateful to our founding forefathers including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and many others including our military and wonderful United States Marine Leathernecks who stood up to these barbaric individuals and stopped them from enslaving and killing our navy sailors and army soldiers as well as stopped them from taking your tax dollars in ransom and payments. Our country needs these kinds of leaders today that will protect Americans, our country and our tax dollars.

Clearly, the brutality of the Islamic State doesn’t have a stopping point. As every week passes they continue racking up atrocities. With every passing day the brutality of the Islamic State is emboldened and there is no reason to believe the atrocities will subside.

Until a strategy is put together to crush their fighters both physically and mentally, ISIS will remain a threat to the civilized world.

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May God Be With Us!

As readers of this history lesson…I hope that you will share it with as many as possible!